Static budget versus flexible budget

The production supervisor of the Machining Department for Hagerstown Company agreed to the following monthly static budget for the upcoming year:

Line Item Description	Amount
Wages	$450,000
Utilities	27,000
Depreciation	45,000
Total	$522,000

The actual amount spent and the actual units produced in the first three months in the Machining Department were as follows:

Month	Amount Spent	Units Produced
May	$492,000	55,000
June	469,000	50,000
July	447,000	45,000

The Machining Department supervisor has been very pleased with this performance because actual expenditures for MayJuly have been significantly less than the monthly static budget of 522,000. However, the plant manager believes that the budget should not remain fixed for every month but should flex or adjust to the volume of work that is produced in the Machining Department. Additional budget information for the Machining Department is as follows:

Line Item Description	Amount
Wages per hour	$15.00
Utility cost per direct labor hour	$0.90
Direct labor hours per unit	0.50
Planned monthly unit production	60,000

a. Prepare a flexible budget for the actual units produced for May, June, and July in the Machining Department. Assume depreciation is a fixed cost. If required, use per unit amounts carried out to two decimal places.

Line Item Description	May	June	July
Units of production	55,000	50,000	45,000
AdvertisingRentResearch and developmentSuppliesWages
AdvertisingRentResearch and developmentSuppliesUtilities
AdvertisingDepreciationRentResearch and developmentSupplies
Total
Supporting calculations:
Units of production
Hours per unit
Total hours of production
Wages per hour
Total wages
Total hours of production
Utility costs per hour
Total utilities

Question Content Area

b. Compare the flexible budget with the actual expenditures for the first three months.

Line Item Description	May	June	July
Total flexible budget
Actual cost
Excess of actual cost over budget

C. What does this comparison suggest? The Machining Department has performed better than originally thought.

Yes or No

The department is spending more than would be expected.

Yesor No